Biden Threatens Iran (Kidding)
America’s new representative on the world stage, Joe Biden, says the US is ready to act on Iran.
MUNICH – Vice President Joe Biden warned Saturday that the U.S. stands ready to take pre-emptive action against Iran if it does not abandon nuclear ambitions and its support for terrorism.
But in his first major policy speech as President Barack Obama’s No. 2, Biden also declared the U.S. open for talks with Iran and Russia to repair relations. And he reached out to the world with a promise that the Obama administration will work with allies to solve global problems.
“We will draw upon all the elements of our power — military and diplomatic, intelligence and law enforcement, economic and cultural — to stop crises from occurring before they are in front of us,” he told the gathering in his 25-minute address.
Let’s not ignore the awesome power of the dreaded strongly-worded letter.
The Associated Press says the US just isn’t ready—yet—to abandon “the stick,” even though we’ve been warned by Iran. We’re incorrigible.
While President Barack Obama has said the U.S. is ready for direct talks with Iran, Biden’s comments made it clear the U.S. is not willing to completely discard the stick, despite early warnings from Tehran.
His comments came a day after Larijani sternly declared that the Obama administration must admit past wrongs before there can be reconciliation. The old “carrot-and-stick policy must be discarded,” he said, alluding to Western threats and offers of rewards to coax Iran to give up nuclear activities.
Tehran insists its nuclear aims are peaceful.
And meanwhile, back home in Tehran, the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is gloating: Iran: Nuclear progress despite sanctions.
Iran has achieved breakthroughs in nuclear and space technology despite international sanctions against it, the country’s top leader said Saturday.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told military commanders that instead of weakening Iran, sanctions by the US, the UN and others have forced it to become more self-reliant, leading to greater strides by Iranian scientists and to technological advancements unseen in the country’s history.